Lots of Tornadoes So Far in 2017

Preliminary NOAA reports show that there were about 138 tornadoes in January 2017 compared with a January average of 16 for the three years from 2014 to 2016...

February 28, 2017

Preliminary NOAA reports show that there were about 138 tornadoes in January 2017 compared with a January average of 16 for the three years from 2014 to 2016. These tornadoes killed 20 people in January 2017 compared with 17 in all of 2016. There were four deaths in Mississippi on January 21. There were 16 deaths in Georgia on January 22. On February 7th a powerful tornado hit Eastern New Orleans causing major damage in areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The tornado was one of several twisters spawned as severe thunderstorms moved across the Southeast.

Data from NOAA also shows that there were about 985 tornadoes in 2016, compared with 1,177 in 2015. On January 17, tornadoes developed in Florida with two fatalities. On February 23 and 24 tornadoes formed in Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia resulting in two fatalities in Louisiana, one in Mississippi and four in Virginia. February 23 was the most active tornado day in 2016, when 52 storms formed. On April 27, one fatality resulted from a tornado in Texas and on May 9 tornadoes in Oklahoma killed two people. Full Report